Molded bathing cap



Feb. 4, 1964 1. NEUSTADTER MOLDED'BATHING CAP Filed April 20, 1961 1NVEN TOR. lg vs AusmorEQ BYHZG 7( k free/vs United States Patent3,120,003 MOLDED BATHING CAP Irving Neustadter, 246 Bay 19th St.,Brooklyn, N.Y. Filed Apr. 20, 1961, Ser. No. 104,436 1 Claim. (Cl. 2-68)This invention relates to bathing caps, more especially to bathing capsfor women and girls.

Bathing caps as now manufactured have certain inherent seriousdisadvantages due to the fact that they are supposed to have a tolerablewater-tight fit on the wearers head and yet be salable to and usable byindividuals of various head sizes and shapes. The disadvantages areaggravated in the case of bathing caps which are made in a single sizebut are marked and sold to fit all sizes. One well known dis-advantagesis that even when the caps are made in two or more sizes, it isdiflicult if not impossible for many women to obtain bathing caps whichanswer their requirements as to head sizes and shapes. Another seriousdisadvantage is that the bathing caps may and frequently do disarray oreven spoil the wearers hairdos, often because of the close engagement ofthe cap with the top, sides and back of the head and the resultingexcessive pressure of the cap on the hair.

The primary object of the present invention is to obviate the abovementioned disadvantages and for that purpose to provide a bathing capwhich is so made that it is better adapted to conform to the size andshape of the wearers head and can be worn without seriously impairingthe wearers hairdo.

The above and other objects, features and advantages of the inventionwill be more fully understood from the following description consideredin connection with the accompanying drawings which are illustrative ofthe presently preferred embodiment of the invention.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a side view of a bathing cap according to the presentinvention;

FIG. 2 is a rear view of the bathing cap;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of a portion of the bathing cap encircled inFIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a cross sectional view, on a larger scale, taken on line 4-4of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a cross sectional view, similar to FIG. 4, but showing thepleated material in an expanded condition; and

FIG. 6 is a cross sectional view, on a larger scale, taken on line 66 ofFIG. 1.

Referring now to the drawings in detail, the bathing cap 10 is formed ofrubber or any other suitable elastomer and comprises the head-enclosingpart 12, having an outer edge 14 and the usual chin strap 16 which issecured to portions 18 at the lower ends of edge 14. The lower edge 20of the cap defines the usual neck opening of the cap. A water seal 22comprising a pair of spaced ribs 24 extends along the inner surface ofedge 20 and along the inner surface of the lower portions of edge 14 ateach side of the cap. Said water seal may be of any other suitable type.

In accordance with the present invention and pursuant to the primaryobject thereof, the head-enclosing part 12 consists essentially of asingle layer of the elastomer material and is not only molded tohead-contour but is pleatmolded substantially throughout its contour toprovide said part with a multiplicity of molded pleats 26. Moreparticularly, the pleats are molded into the cap during the moldingthereof to the desired head contour and head size and they are moldedand set into the desired longitudinal and transverse or cross sectionalcontours simultaneously with the molding and setting of the cap to thehead contour by vulcanization of the elastomer in its shaped 3,120,003Patented Feb. 4, 1964 "ice condition in the mold. The pleats 26 areV-shaped in cross section and are easily expandable and contractable inaccordian-like fashion so that the cap is to a large extent selfadjustable to the contour and size of the wearers head within a range ofhead sizes. The self size-adjust"- ability of the cap due to its moldedpleated configuration not only makes it possible to reduce the number ofcaps of ditferent head sizes heretofore required to be made by themanufacturer but also results in the important advantage of minimum orno disturbance of the wearers hairdo.

FIG. 4 shows the material of the head-enclosing portion 12 of the cap inan unexpanded, off the head condition. In FIG. 5 there is shown the samepart of the material of FIG. 4, but in an expanded condition when thecap is worn. In this expanded condition it will be noted that theincrease in size of the parts of the head-enclosing portion of the capoccurs because of the expansion of the pleats and does not occur due toany stretchability of the material but, on the contrary, in its expandedcondition the material is stretched very little if at all. The thicknessof the material and depth of the V-shaped pleats can vary over aconsiderable range. For example, but without limitation, the thicknessof the material may be in the order of .020 to .025 inch and the depthof the pleats can be about one-eighth of an inch. It will be understoodthat the cap is contour-molded and pleat-molded by the use of companionmale and female grooved parts to provide the pleats of the longitudinaland cross sectional contours above and hereafter indicated.

As illustrated here, the pleats 26 of the crown part 28 of the capextend horizontally from one side of the cap to the other side and areparallel to each other, and the back 30 of the cap also has pleats whichextend horizontally from one side of the cap to the other and areparallel to each other. This is the preferred form of the cap becausethe horizontally extending pleats at the crown and back of the capfacilitates its molding since a two part mold is employed and the moldparts are movable horizontally toward and away from each other for themolding operation.

The sides 32 of the bathing cap are identical and are provided withpleats 26 which are arranged to resemble a womans hairdo in order toprovide a pleasing appearance for the cap and at the same time permitexpansion of the cap along the sides of the wearers head to conform tothe configuration of the underlying hairdo. Due to the particularconfiguration illustrated it will be understood, as best seen in FIG. 3,that the pleats in cross-section do not always resemble a perfect V butvary in shape, as illustrated, due to the direction of flow of the lineswhich form the pleats. Where the pleats are straight, such as at thecrown and back of the cap, the pleats resemble a perfect V in crosssection but where they extend along curved lines the V form is modifiedin the manner illus trated in FIG. 3 but accomplish their function sincethey are expandable and expand to conform to the part of the personshead which they confront and, in addition, provide the pleasingappearance heretofore referred to.

While I have shown and described the preferred embodiment of myinvention, it will be understood that the invention may be embodiedotherwise than as herein specifically illustrated or described, and thatcertain changes in the form and arrangement of parts and in the specificmanner of practicing the invention may be made without departing fromthe underlying idea or principles of this invention within the scope ofthe appended claim.

What I claim is:

A molded bathing cap having a head enclosing portion comprising a singlelayer of resiliently elastic material, said layer of material havingparts for covering the. crown,

0 sides, and back of the wearers head, said crown part and said backpart of said head enclosing portion each having a series of moldedpleats of substantially uniform thickness extending from one side to theother side of said head enclosing portion, said crown and back pleatsbeing parallel to each other, and said side parts of said head enclosingportion having a series of molded pleats of substantially uniformthickness, said pleats in said parts being collectively arranged in aconfiguration resembling a References Cited in the file of this patentwomans hairdo, said pleats being expandable so that said 10 2,520,049

UNITED STATES PATENTS Hajoway May 17, Gould Feb. 28, Wright Nov. 23,Eakins Jan. 11, Moore Aug. 22,

